Hey Pit Crazies!

Is the Fox winning?

That’s what everybody really wants to know in the AG Chicken and Fox Saga.

Well, right now the Fox has not gotten any more chickens, and I’m currently working on putting a stock on a shotgun so I can dispatch said Fox. But as of today, the chickens are still free-ranging, though we are putting them away well before 4:00 PM when the fox would come around to see if he could grab another poulet.

The story will continue, but that is the update.

VIX is Making a 20-Day Low

Speaking of foxes, VIX is making a 20-day low. And why is that important? Well, because earnings. That’s right. We can have a shutdown all we want, but earnings are really the thing that counts.

As of right now, some of those numbers are starting to look pretty good:

• Texas Instruments (TXN) actually beat the earnings number but not by enough
• Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) is trading a little closer to the year highs right now on the back of a huge earnings beat, with the stock up almost 20% on Tuesday
• 3M Corp (MMM) was up 7.6%, a little over $11 on the day, to close at a high of the year

Now why do I mention these?

Earnings Season is Settling in with a Nice Win on Our THS AMZN Picks

The reason is simple: we picked Amazon (AMZN) this week in the Ticker Highlight Show. 

Amazon..com (AMZN), actually of all the MAG7, has taken off since Monday. We were able to close calls we paid $6.50 for around $10 only a day later. So there is a lot of move in these stocks.

Why Stocks Can Surge Late in the Year

One of the things you see when you have a year of stocks really not doing very much is this: toward the end of the year, as companies retool, use AI, and get used to all the madness from, let’s say, the first quarter and potentially the second quarter, it’s easier for them to adjust to what’s going on and become a little more profitable.

So even though the stocks haven’t moved much this year, doesn’t mean they can’t move much later.  I hate to use this analogy but the fox can wait.

The Shutdown Factor vs. Earnings

The shutdown factor is really what’s keeping VIX high at this point. But earnings will keep stocks higher.

I am banking and planning on these names moving higher into the end of the year and through 2026.

To Your Trading Success,

AG